*For a less screedish take with more quotes and research, see this amazingly and accurately titled piece at the NYT.
Whenever I think of Jared Fucking Kushner, I first think: why did Ivanka marry him. I mean, that is the only thing he did well (being a Trump is an awful thing, but it has gotten him greater power and wealth than otherwise). So, I asked those who follow me a very professional survey question that is not at all gamed:
I am a lousy judge of attractiveness in men, so help me out: Is Jared Kushner— Steve Saideman (@smsaideman) April 2, 2020
It is well known that Jared Fucking Kushner only got into Harvard because his father dropped a bunch of money on the university. Obviously not enough since Jared Fucking Kushner is, by himself, harming the institution's reputation even more than becoming the go-to place for disgraced Trump appointees. While I perhaps tend to fetishize intelligence, if one claims to be the master of so many issues--the Mideast, opoids (remember that), and so on--it would be great that one could actually understand the issues and processes and dynamics. So, when Jared Fucking Kushner says that the states shouldn't be asking for the stuff in the federal stockpiles because they are the federal government's stuff, well, damn, he really is not bright enough for the job.
Kushner combines being not bright with an amazing lack of self-awareness. He does not get it that he isn't bright, that he has no experience, that experience might actually matter. "Hey, I have read 25 books about the Mideast so I can definitely come up with a plan to end a conflict going on for 75 years." The arrogance and dimness combine to produce the wrong person in the wrong place at the worst time in modern American history. Thousands of people are dead, many more will die, and Trump has empowered one of the worst people.
So, last night I dared my twitter followers, forgetting the basic rule of Trump-dom--it can always get worse.
It really is hard to imagine a worse person to be in charge of the government's handling of the pandemic than Jared Kushner.— Steve Saideman (@smsaideman) April 3, 2020
Go ahead, I dare you.
Damn, my followers rose to the challenge most impressively. And, yes, most depressingly since it means, yes, it can get worse. Let me run through some of the candidates listed and consider whether they would be worse than Jared Fucking Kushner.
- Donald Trump himself. Well, this is a non-starter since Trump is in charge and thought it best that Jared Fucking Kushner run this thing, so not really a change.
- Ivanka. I loathe her, of course, but I am pretty sure she wouldn't muss herself by getting deeply involved and "disrupting" things. She would just take credit for all of the good things happening and use her contacts at the NYT and other outlets to provide anonymous "inside info" into the government to make herself look good and throw others under the bus.
- Melania. Like Ivanka, I would expect her to let the rest of the government operate without getting into the weeds. She'd plagiarize someone to come up with a banal slogan to get people to behave like "The Only Thing You Have to Fear is Being Scared" or "Think Not Of What the Country Should Do For You, Just Think A Bit About More Spacing" or "Make America Good Again."
- Don Trump Jr. or Eric. Hmmm, these douchebros might be worse than Jared Fucking Kushner. They might seek to monetize any effort. Oh wait, Jared Fucking Kushner probably did that already. I think mostly this would be a sideways move. These guys are all the same--born in wealth, never had to be accountable for anything, had no major successes, but through luck got placed into positions of responsibility and power.
- I don't like reality tv shows which means I didn't understand the reference to Carol Baskin. I will have to watch the series and get back you on that.
- Steve Bannon. Hmm, interesting suggestion. Could this current Corona fight be anymore racist? Well perhaps, since the government is now changing its policies on immigration to let in folks from elsewhere who have medical backgrounds. Of course, this itself is an immoral policy--let's drain the brains from the rest of the world when they need as much as we do. Anyhow, would Bannon fuck up the distribution of supplies any more than Kushner? I am not sure. But he has a way of charming elite media institutions, so the Trump Administration might be getting someone better coverage of this shitshow, and that would be bad. So, fair point.
- Ron Johnson. Meh. He is not bright, but I don't see him being quite as involved in the micro-details.
- Seb Gorka. Again, a pompous loudmouth who would talk more than do anything. I don't think he would affect policy much.
- Devin Nunes. My guess is he would get fragged by someone in the first week.
- Jerry Falwell Jr. Yeah, he would be worse. Don't know why anyone listens to him, but he would have enough influence that would keep people from doing the right stuff that even more people might get killed. More mass meetings, more transmission of the disease, less help for those states known to have so many sinners--NY, California, etc.
- Steve Miller. Um, isn't he already kind of responsible, having written some of Trump's worst speeches on this and given that the bad immigration policies have already driven out doctors and nurses from rural America? But, yes, he would be worse.
- Oh, one more: Scaramucci. He would not actually hold the job--he would just get named and then get fired.
1 comment:
Great piece Steve but I want to challenge one premise - It isn't at all clear that, if we are measuring net worth - that the Trump clan has more $$ than the Kushner cabal. Arguably it was Ivanka marrying up the social ladder. Absent a clear understanding of daddy's leveraging we will never really understand how much of the Trump empire is ALL smoke and mirror.
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